Animals, Things That Spew, And A BIG Waterfall

July 19 - Day Seven:  Belgrade, MT.....and Yellowstone National Park

Notice what else is in the picture!!!

Oh... I'm the first to write? Ok then...
So I'm Anner, and I was offered to write a portion of the blog here. Since I've got my own blog, I'm kind of used to this sort of thing. But anyways!
So today, our family went to Yellowstone National Park. (Forgive me, not all events will be in order) We drove for an awful long time and arrived at the entrance. Me being me, I went for the flyers we were given. As we drove along through the park, we saw all sorts of wildlife; elk, buffalo, and a little chipmunk.

We went around Yellowstone and viewed a few hot springs, which really were cool until you caught a whiff of their steam... Whew! I still smell somewhat of rotten eggs.

Afterwards, we stopped for a bit for lunch right next to Old Faithful, which consisted of hoagie sandwiches. Me and Mundo were VERY excited for Old Faithful and wolfed down our sandwiches so we could leave (and wait... and wait...) early. For about 20 minutes it was "Yes... yes.... yes... YES..... nope..." as the water or the steam would rise just enough to get our hopes up, only to go back down again. Mundo was getting anxious and would say over and over "C'mon Old Faithful, be faithful to us." Don't get me wrong, I love my brother dearly. But he has a tendancy to keep riding a dead horse and overkill things. After a bit of "GAH!!! That's enough!" we continued to wait, and it was just about the time I shushed my brother when the water from the geyser rose... and rose... and rose... and before we knew it Old Faithful was there, steaming in her glory, 150 feet in the air.
It was magnificent. 'Nuff said. I took enough pictures to choke my inner tourist. I thought to myself after: "Man! God made some cool stuff!"

Once that was done and over, we loaded ourselves (once again... ugh) into the car to go on a "walk" to view a waterfall. The downward trip was very nice, and once we got there, the viewing platform was RIGHT THERE on the edge of the waterfall, so it was cool to see the water cascade down into oblivion. The rapids up to that point looked amazing, and had there not been a waterfall there, it would have been worthy of some true white water rafting (and considering I just came back from High Adventure in Moab, I see rapids in a whole new way... a totally amazing new way...) Walking back UP the trail was fun; it was all uphill (whoopee) and me and Mundo were panting by the time we got to the car. After another quick view of the waterfall (the walk was so much easier this time), rain driving us out, and a spectacular view of a male elk, we headed back for a two-hour drive home.
Words cannot describe how amazing today was. It was just.....
WOW.
But that's all for me.
:)



Mundo:

Hello!!!! It is me the Mun-of-the-Do. It is the end of day 6 and going on day 7. MAN!!!!!! I can't believe it has been one week already!!! We just got back about 45 minutes to an hour ago from Yellowstone National Park. We saw Old Faithful blast off and MAN was it cool, it blasted off a hundred feet in the air easily. But when you smell the steam it smells like rotted eggs, or hard boiled eggs. After Old Faithful we went to watch the water falls. When we got there and saw the the falls and the DROP oooooohhhhh man when I saw that drop I fell like I was about to fall off it. It just freaked me out alot. Then we went to see that same water fall from a different angle but that drop still creeps me out.

Then we went home sooooo now I am here! But the lack of sleep is getting to me!:( So nothing much has happened today, but that nothing is surely something. Tomorrow we go we are going to Mount Rushmore.

TO RUSHMORE, OR BUST!!!! (I know were aren't going to bust!!)

Mundo out!!!!

Tomorrow:  Keystone, South Dakota.....Mt. Rushmore!

Glory Days, Rural-ness, and Growing Up In A Small Town

July 15 - Day 4:  Malad, Idaho

I'm tired.  Staying up late chatting and then getting up early to run is starting to wear on me.  Yes, I know I'm on vacation.  But maintaining a healthy lifestyle doesn't take a break, so I'm trying to do my best to not gain 10 pounds while I'm gone.  But eating my dad's pancakes this morning, having a delicious lunch at my brother's today and the prospect of getting shakes from the local Drive-In tonight makes for a GREAT Saturday!  But now for the rundown of our newest adventures....

Glory Days

My 20-year high school reunion was last night.  It was more fun and enjoyable than I could have ever hoped for.  My graduating class was all of about 53 people strong.  We had 18 people show up, which I thought was really great.  It was wonderful to chat, catch up with everyone, and laugh.  We were at the park for nearly three hours and that time flew by....just about as fast as the twenty years we've been out of high school.  So, there we are.  I'm the third from the left in the middle row.  Many of these people I've already re-connected with via Facebook, and I hope to be able to stay in touch with them through the years.  So to all who came last night....thank you!  And go Dragons!

Rural-ness

We went to visit my brother and sister-in-law and their three younguns on their not-quite-a-ranch home.  They live in Northern Utah in a small rural community on an acre of land.  Now to us City Folk, an acre is a vast expanse of space, which could easily fit four or five homes.  But to them, it's not that big and it'll do just fine, thank you very much.  But they have three big pigs (two sows and a boar), ten (or is it eleven?) piglets, two calfs, a turkey, two goats, several chickens, a few dogs.....and to me, that's a lot of animals.  But it's great to see that they are involving their kids in raising the animals.  They help feed, give water and do other small chores on their little piece of land.  I thought the piglets were cute and funny, but the highlight was getting Scott to get up on that tractor.  He said he'd do it only if I'd join him.  So, I acted like I was going to hop up there, but then turned around and got my camera and snapped some great pics of him.  Hahaha....I won!

Growing Up In A Small Town

Now you may think that I'm showcasing maybe the worst parts of my hometown of Malad.  But really, I'm letting you see the charm of where I grew up.  There are many old buildings that have gone through various transformations through the years.  They've been repurposed, remodeled, and redone.  Some are now just shells, holding treasures from years gone by (I think the American Pickers guys would have a heyday here!).  But these places are stalwarts and I know that no matter how long I'm gone, when I return, they will still be here.  Growing up here was o.k. and I am now fully a City Girl, but there is a fond place in my heart for small towns.  I know it grounded me, made me a more common sense person, and gave me a solid foundation.

Tomorrow afternoon, we head north again.  We will be staying with my sister for a night and I'm excited to see her.  It's been a year and I eagerly await to see how big her kids are now.  So until then....

Tomorrow:  Pocatello, Idaho

Pirates, Random Item Winner, and Cute Cousins

July 14 - Day 2: Payson, UT

It seems like we've been on vacation for several days with all that we have done just yesterday and today! Here's the basic rundown.

Pirates

Whenever we come to Scott's parents house, the kids love to pull out the Pirates of the Carribbean dice game. They play with Grandpa and much hollering, laughing, and teasing happens. It's almost as much fun to watch them as it is to play.


Random Item Winner



We had some time to kill before we met my sister and her cute kids at Golden Spoon (yippee!!!!), so while we were at a grocery store, we decided to play Most Random Item. We split into Boys vs. Girls and had ten minutes to find the most random item in the store. The winner? Girls! We found a plastic hot dog container. (Note: There's Flat Red Poncho with the winner...). The Boys came up with some good items, including an enema kit. Kinda gross, I know.


Cute Cousins

We had the chance to not only see my sister's three adorable children, we also were able to get all five Peterson grandbabies together. The newest grandbaby was born just four days ago and is absolutely precious! Her older sister has the biggest blue eyes and is quite the flirt.

Scott's parents aren't in the best of health anymore, and it's always a blessing to be able to have our kids spend time with them. We've had some good laughs together and I'm looking forward to many more days like this!

Tomorrow we head to my hometown so I can go to my high school 20 year reunion. I can't wait to see some if my former classmates (notice I did NOT say old). It will also be great to see my parents again for just a few days. Heading north again tomorrow!

Next stop: Malad, Idaho

ROAD TRIP 2011!!!!!

Home Sweet Home! 
(Although we don't live in a casino or eat at a buffet...we live in a house in a normal neighborhood.  And I cook.)

July 13 - Day One: Las Vegas

Today is the first day of our trip.  I keep saying that it will be epic only because we have never attempted something like this before.  The longest vacation our family has been on has been about two weeks and we traveled as far as Denver.  That was fun, but it was a long time in the car.  Apparently we have forgotten how LONG that was, because we're going even farther this time, but doing more slowly so as to enjoy the journey. 

We'll try and blog a little every day and I'd love to have different members of our family rotate writing posts so you can get different perspectives on what we do.  Needless to say, our ten-year-old's posts may be pretty short as he is a man of few writing words.

Pics will be posted.  Watch for Flat Red Poncho.  He's going to pop up in different places.  We've already been scheming potential pictures for him.

This is going to be fun.  Leave comments and join us!

Next stop:  Payson, UT